Hppy Birthday, Babe!
by Todd's Pet
Summary: This si my personal fanatasy fic for my birthday - I was 50 on Friday May 15


Happy Birthday, Babe!

Babs is keeping a low profile. The women in her office make a huge fuss for birthdays, and today is her fiftieth, making it even worse! She kept it to herself and hopes no one thought to look up personnel records. It's already 4pm and she's thinking she's gotten away with it, when a couple of blokes from engineering her co-workers persuaded to dress up to look like wraith come striding through the back door! Her colleagues must have paid more attention to her computer screensaver than she thought – although they look like badly put together Halloween costumes and she wants the ground to just open up and swallow her!

Babs is wondering if she can get away with actually hiding under her desk, when a high-pitched whine from outside draws her attention away to the huge picture window – and a wraith dart, heading straight for her! Now THAT is an impressive trick, she thinks, just as the transporter beam of the dart fulfils her deepest wish and lifts her right out of potentially the most embarrassing moment of her life!

After a momentary lapse of consciousness, Babs becomes aware of being in… well, where is she? In fact, where is SHE? She looks down at herself but sees nothing but a strangely shimmering oscillating light! Her head feels funny and just as she feels the first wave of panic roll over her she becomes aware of a sensation like being drunk – not being drunk as in inebriated, but as in what the water in a glass must feel like when it's being drunk! Nano-seconds before she's convinced she's going to pass out, she suddenly materialises… somewhere!

She staggers a little as she gets her bearings and looks around at the place she's just popped into out of nowhere. It's dark and everywhere she looks there are flowing curves and dim pools of light in various colours. It should be scary but she finds it quite comforting.

She touches one of the walls: rather than recoiling in disgust she runs her hand along the full length of it, intrigued by the sensation of a wall that is softly yielding, warm and ever so slightly moist, like skin.

She starts to walk along the corridor and wonders why this place seems to be deserted. It's all starting to look quite familiar to her. But it can't be… if this is what she thinks it is, it's an elaborate hoax for a birthday – and certainly a higher standard than the fancy-dress get-ups back at the office!

Suddenly she sees a figure flit across the end of the corridor – a wraith! No Halloween costume there, she thinks, starting to feel stirrings of genuine fear roil in her stomach. Well, she's here now and it's obvious he wants her to follow him, so she heads in the direction she saw the wraith go.

He's tall and slim with very long, smooth hair flowing out behind him as he walks briskly, always just out of her clear line of sight, always turning the next corner just as she sees him. She starts to jog, hoping to catch up with him, but he starts to jog too. She breaks into a run and so does he, keeping himself just out of sight and always out of reach.

She tries not to think too much about where he might be leading her.

Suddenly, he stops and spins round to face her. She screeches to a halt a few yards from him. As he stands there, just smiling at her she recognises him! Steve? His smile broadens as the thought forms in her head and she takes a few steps towards him.

"Steve? Is it you?" she asks out loud.

"Hello, Baby," the wraith replies, but then turns and runs off again.

Babs gives chase – and this corner doesn't turn into yet another corridor but opens up into a huge hall, lit by moving pools of gentle light swirling lazily around the hall.

Steve smiles at her from the centre of the room then waves his hand and suddenly the whole place is plunged into pitch darkness.

Babs' heart leaps into her throat and she reels from the disorientation. "Steve?" she calls timidly into the dark. She whirls around when she feels warm breath on her neck just before someone pulls the clasp from her hair and lets it tumble around her shoulders.

"I like it better loose," says a deep voice close to her ear.

She spins again, trying to locate the voice, aware even in the blackness that the wraith is circling her. "Steve?" She's starting to feel a little scared.

"Be calm, Babe," the wraith says – and this time she feels his breath on her cheek followed quickly by a kiss!

She spins around again, not knowing whether to be afraid or intrigued and as she does so the pools of light suddenly come back to life. Now used to the dark, she squints and raises her arm to shield her eyes.

The hall is suddenly full of wraith! Should she run – would she get far if she did? No – not all wraith, there are people there too, all women…

-oOo-

"Surprise!" They all shout together. They're happy, cheerful, clearly pleased to see her as she looks around them all in a daze, trying to take it in and work out what the hell is going on.

This time when she turns round she comes up close and personal with Steve. Yes, it is Steve, she knows that now as he leans in close to her and kisses her again – this time lingeringly on the lips.

"Happy Birthday, Babe," he says as he draws away and allows every one else to gather around her.

She's never met any of these women, but somehow she feels she knows them all so well. They're all here, Babs thinks to herself, except…

Then she sees a woman standing a little aside from the others and as they make eye contact, the woman says quietly, "Happy Birthday, sis!"

"SW!" Babs cries happily and rushes over to hug her friend.

"Hope you like your surprise, TP," SW says, "It took us ages to organise!"

"But how on earth did you…?"

"Oh, it wasn't on earth!" SW replies, laughing, "We've all been dashing back and forward between galaxies to set this up!"

"You mean…?" Babs is speechless.

"Yes, TP, this is all real!"

"So that really is…?" Babs asks, blushing, "The one who…?"

"The one who kissed you!" laughs SW. "Oh yes, that really is Steve!"

Suddenly an enormous dreadlocked wraith comes running into the hall and heads straight for Babs like an out of control steamroller. Everyone steps aside and Babs doesn't know whether she should turn and run away or not!

"TeePeeeeeeeeeee!" the wraith growls deeply as he swoops Babs up into his arms and swings her around and around!

"Happy Birthday, TP!" Greg booms, hugging her so tightly she can't speak.

Draygon taps Greg on the elbow and says, "Greg, she needs to breathe…"

Greg immediately puts Babs down, smoothing her jacket and patting her head like she was a little doll. "Sorry," he says.

"Oh, my God! It's really you, Greg!" Babs coughs, "I'm really happy to see you too!" she says giving Greg a warm smile, which he answers with a huge happy grin of his own.

Babs turns to SW and asks, "So, if this is all real… Steve and Greg and… are all the other boys here, too?"

"Oh yes," SW grins.

Babs' grins broadly as she says, "And you've been on this hive for ages and you've already been with him, haven't you, you wicked woman?"

"I'm sure I don't know who you mean," SW laughs.

Just then Babs hears a familiar voice and turns in the direction it's coming from. "Happy Birthday, My Pet, and welcome to my hive."

When TP sees the voice's owner striding towards her, she's convinced she's going to faint. It's Todd.

"Oh, my God," she whispers to SW, "It's him. Is he real, is he really real?"

"Oh, he's real, alright," SW whispers back, supporting her friend by the elbow and adding, "Breathe, TP, just remember to keep breathing…"

The party is in full swing and Babs feels like she's in the middle of a wonderful dream. For the very first time in her life she has a sense of belonging. She'd always felt out of place, embarrassed by attention, but not here; here she feels like she's finally come home.

Shawn takes great pride in showing her the fabulous buffet he prepared in her honour. She's speechless when they reach the end of the buffet table and Shawn shows her the sketch she'd done of him months ago – framed and hanging on the wall. She's even more delighted to see a whole row of the sketches she'd done of the other wraith, too – all framed!

"But that was just a story, a fantasy," she says to herself, "It wasn't real."

"That's what I thought, too," Ciannwn says, "but it seems like everything we thought was just our imaginations has actually happened here."

"Everything?" Babs asks, wide eyed.

"Oh, yes… everything," Ciannwn answers, pointing to a veritable forest of potted plants in a secluded corner.

A drum roll from a stage set up on other side of the hall and an announcement in a deep, gravely voice grabs their attention: "Here they are, especially for TP! The one, the only, The Dreadlocked Wraithie Boys!"

Eddie rushes onto the stage, takes several bows and revels in the worshippers' screams of adulation, then picks up his guitar and adjusts his microphone. Greg picks up the bass guitar and Bob settles himself behind the drums. The music opens with a crash and Eddie starts singing.

"Wow! They're really good!" Babs says to no one in particular.

"They should be," a familiar deep voice says at her shoulder and she turns to see Todd standing beside her. "They've been practicing every day," he adds, "We've listened to nothing else on the hive for months!"

"Have some more champagne, TP!" says Shawn moving among the worshippers and passing out extremely large, full glasses.

"I'll get drunk if I have any more," TP laughs.

"Don't worry," Todd whispers with a wicked grin, "I won't let any of my officers take advantage of you – unless you want one of them to, that is!"

Babs knows it's not just Todd's deep, rumbling laugh that's making her feel light-headed. But if she's honest with herself she doesn't really care. Either this is real and she's living the best night of her entire life, or it's all a dream and she'll wake up in the morning anyway.

-oOo-

Babs opens her eyes and rubs the sleep from them. She sits up, stretches and yawns, and starts to remember bits of the most wonderful wraith-filled dream she's had in months. She laughs quietly to herself, thinking she's surpassed herself this time: a surprise birthday party thrown by all her forum friends on a real hive with real wraith! What a crazy imagination you have, she chides herself.

A movement from her side makes her turn and look down. What she sees makes her heart skip a beat.

"Morning, honey. Sleep well?"

"What…?"

"Don't tell me you got so drunk you don't remember last night?" Steve says, pouting with mock indignation. He sits up and pushes Babs back down. "Well, I'll have to remind you then," he says, his long hair brushing softly across her shoulders as he leans down and kisses her deeply.

She wraps her arms around Steve and lazily strokes her fingers through his hair. The night before comes flooding back and she remembers this is not a dream at all – it's the best birthday present anyone could ever wish for.

The End


End file.
